


Hands-On

by sunaddicted



Series: Tumblr Prompts 2020 [6]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Bickering, Character Study, Future Fic, Gen, Locked In, Post-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:35:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27041356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunaddicted/pseuds/sunaddicted
Summary: "You're so fucking insufferable""Less backtalking and more floor ripping, Jim"
Relationships: Jim Gordon & Edward Nygma, Jim Gordon/Edward Nygma
Series: Tumblr Prompts 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1654798
Comments: 7
Kudos: 26





	Hands-On

**Author's Note:**

> @thegreenfairy13 asked for "get your hands dirty" with either gobblepot, nygmobblegordon or riddlergordon - you probably wanted something sexier than this lmao, sorry for the abysmal lack of smut.

_Hands-On_

"You know if you helped me, things would be going much faster"

Edward arched his eyebrow, arms crossed over his chest in a manner that suggested he had absolutely no intentions of moving even a finger - no matter whatever argument the other man might try to employ in order to get him moving: it wasn't his fault that they were trapped in a cell to begin with and while Edward didn't exactly relish in the situation they were in, he figured that being a Rogue he had slightly better odds of surviving being kidnapped by a colleague (and friend) than Jim Gordon had.

"Seriously?"

"Look, I don't think I'm going to get any shiny points for helping you escape" and he needed as many of those as he could, considering that because of Jim always snooping around where he shouldn't, Edward had gotten caught red handed doing his own snooping.

Fucking Jim Gordon and his fucking habit of barging in without thinking, tripping alarms left and right, completely disregarding any consequences for his brash stupidity.

"What about _your_ escape?" Nygma might have been mad at him but surely the man wanted to get out as badly as he did, right? 

Maybe.

Jim fucking hated that the supposedly smartest man in Gotham could be so ridiculously dumb. What was he thinking - that Two Face would look the other way about the fact that the Riddler had been sticking his fingers in various files that surely he wasn't supposed to even know the existence of? Either the two Rogues had a better relationship than Jim was aware of (extremely unlikely, it was pretty easy to parse alliances and feuds amidst Gotham's criminals) or Nygma really thought he could talk his ways out of being beaten up from Hell and back.

Knowing the other man, Jim really wouldn't have been surprised to learn that the Riddler seriously counted on a charm he was the only one who thought it existed; if there was something Nygma was exceptional at, it was getting on the nerves of even those who truly were his friends - one could easily imagine how irritating his enemies could find him. It was one of the few chracter traits that Jim still recognised in the other man, from when he had just been the weird colleague who had liked to open up corpses; Edward had always been hard to like, even when one put genuine effort into it - all his idosyncrasies, his poor social skills, his nervous habits... they all made it hard to look past the façade and really get to know Ed.

Sometimes Jim blamed himself for not having tried harder.

Sometimes Jim acknowledyged that maybe it wouldn't have changed much anyway.

He sighed heavily at the door, fists planted against his flanks almost bruisingly; there was something comforting in the feeling of his knuckles pressed hard against his flesh, digging deep and painfully enough to make him feel centered - more focused.

"You know when it comes to Harvey, everything is in twos: if you can't work out how to get out in the first and most immediate way, it's better to look for the second"

Jim turned around, fists pressed even harder onto his skin to avoid throwing them at the other man: now it wasn't the time to strangle Nygma "How about you get off your ass, get your hands dirty and help _us_ out?"

"For what price?"

"Your fucking freedom?"

"I can negotiate that on my own"

"Are you sure about that?"

" _Quite_ " Edward spat out, riled up by the annoyingly doubting tone in the other's voice; when it came to Jimbo, the man was always doubting; always taunting; always up on a fucking pedestal as if Edward and the rest of the city hadn't seen him at his lowest and worst already - as if it was some kind of secret that Saint Jim Gordon wasn't such a saint, afterall "So?"

"So what?"

"Do you want my help or not?"

Jim had to fight hard to curb the annoyed noise that wanted to tear its way out of his throat: if there was a way to make the other man even more insufferable, it was letting him know that he was getting at you - whether he had been actively trying for it or not. Even if when it came to Edward Nygma, it always was a safe bet to assume the other man was out to take the piss out of everyone "I have been asking for your help for _hours_ "

"You have been demanding it and trying to order me around" Edward pointed out with a little smug smile arching the corners of his lips.

The detective took a deep breath, blood leeching out of his knuckles as he tightened his fists "Can you _please_ help me to get the two of us out of here?"

Edward uncrossed his legs and planted his elbows on his thighs, propping his chin on his palms ina position that emanated pure and unadulterated curiosity "And what I'm getting out of it?"

"Is there something you want?"

Oh, but that was just no fun: it always was far more interesting to see what other people were willing to sacrifice rather than merely naming his price; however, Jimbo was notoriously difficult to toy with and Edward didn't actually want to get on the man's bad side while they were locked up together "A free pass for the next three times you catch me"

"One pass - and only for minor things like thievery and breaking and entering" Jim immediately retorted, hating the fact the he had to compromise with the Rogue but well-aware by then that just was how things worked in Gotham; the times when he would have been indignated by bending the rules were so far back in the past that they were haloed in haziness - he was a different man now.

"Two passes" Edward straightened up "And I want arson included in the pardoned crimes"

" _Arson_?" 

Edward shrugged "Shit happens"

"Only because _you_ make it happen" Jim sighed heavily, finally unclenching one of his hands to rub at his forehead; the tension that had been steadily gathering there was almost becoming unbearable, to the point when he would need painkillers and a bed for at least six hours straight in order to get back to a functioning level "Fine, but only if the arson doesn't derive from an explosion and no civilians get injured"

Edward was smart enough to know that was the best he could get out of Gordon "Deal" he hummed as he stood up, turning his back to the door since the other man hadn't had any luck with it for the past couple of hours; it made sense that the most obvious exit would also be the most impractical one but that was alright, since Dent couldn't help himself when it came to always put a second one in place too - the only issue was to find it. Edward studied attentively the ceiling, frowning when he didn't detect any sign that spoke of a way out so, he turned his sight downwards, tapping his feet lightly.

"You know, I thought you had already sussed out the secondary exit" Jim commented, voice thin with impatience.

"To be honest, I was having too much fun watching you try to force open with your bare hands a steel door, several inches thick and with five deadbolts keeping it sealed"

"Glad to know that I have been entertaining"

Edward grinned at the bitchiness seeping through the other's words "Immensely so. _Oh_ " he tapped his foot again, lips pressed tight in concentration to feel the subtle but different reverberations that travelled up his leg "Found it" Edward stepped back, nodding towards the spot he had been standing on "Well? Get your hands dirty and rip out the flooring before they come to get us"

"You're so fucking insufferable"

"Less backtalking and more floor ripping, Jim"

And much to his chagrin, Jim complied: he just wanted to get the fuck out of there before he strangled Nygma or kissed him into shutting up.


End file.
